Contestants showcase vocal skills at Trinity Idol

From gospel music to an acoustic version of a T-Pain song, Trinity Idol had it all this year.

The annual event, hosted by Mu Phi Epsilon, was held on Wednesday night in Laurie Auditorium. The contest featured 10 students and was judged by Gary Seighman, assistant professor of music; David Rando, associate professor of English; and junior Jonathan Martinez.

The competition gave students the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone with their performance.

“It was really fun. I actually hadn’t performed since high school, so it was really nice to get back up on stage and experience that feeling. We’ve been working on it for a long time, so it was nice to see it come together as a final picture,” said sophomore Phillip Lopez, who accompanied sophomore Frank Ashford on guitar for their version of “Buy U a Drank.”

Senior Lauren York, the runner-up of Trinity Idol, was happy that she was able to overcome her nerves and perform in her last Trinity Idol.

“It’s always nerve-racking being on stage, so I expected the nerves. What I didn’t expect was that I didn’t even open my eyes until two minutes into my song,” York said. “I performed in Trinity Idol freshman year, but I didn’t have the guts to do it again until this year and I’m glad I did.”

For her song selection, York chose “Lego House” by Ed Sheeran.

“I initially fell in love with the song because of its phrasing and melody, and then I realized I can relate extremely well to the lyrics. It’s a wonderfully written song,” York said.

After being selected as one of the top three performers by the judges, students in the audience voted senior Reagan Wilkins as this year’s Trinity Idol. For his performance, Wilkins sang an original song he wrote called “Figure You Out.”

“The song is just sort of about people in general just being hard to figure out,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins also performed in last year’s Trinity Idol. He considers it a great honor to be chosen as the winner of this year’s competition.

“This is pretty exciting…just pretty darn exciting. It’s such an amazing feeling. I came in just wanting to do the best I could and play as well as I could,” Wilkins said. “It’s a real honor to have been selected for the contest in the first place, and I feel especially honored to have won.”

Kenneth Caruthers is the Campus Pulse Editor for the Trinitonian. He is currently a senior from Lake Charles, LA. He is a history and communication double major with a minor in political science. He has been working for the newspaper since his first year at Trinity, formerly as a News Intern and Campus Pulse Reporter.